We are one day away from an international sailing event taking over the Halifax harbour again, and according to the mayor, the impact economically will be huge.
SailGP is back this weekend.
Andy Fillmore tells us we are proving once again that Halifax is a city that can host any event with funding from the federal and provincial governments, multiplied “many times over”.
“Every hotel room is full. The restaurants are full. The bars are full. The sidewalks are full,” says Fillmore.
Thirteen, 50-foot catamarans from around the globe, will zip around the water – some reaching speeds more than 100 km/h. It’s the second time the event has come to town since 2024.
Tens of thousands came to the waterfront to watch and the city brought in about $45 million.
This year, to watch the races, crews are building bleachers that Fillmore describes as “the eighth wonder of the world”.
“These bleachers are… I don’t know… eight stories high and tower over the edge of the boardwalk,” says Fillmore. “It’s absolutely amazing. An engineering marvel.”
He says, there should be 50,000 people on the waterfront this weekend and some will pay to watch from George’s Island as well as the scaffolding.
To watch the races for free, there will be viewing from other parts of the boardwalk or at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Fillmore says SailGP wanted to come back to Halifax because “we kicked butt as a host city.”
“We turned out, we showed up and we cheered loudly,” says Fillmore. “So, we’re going to do that again.”
The full video of the interview with Acadia Broadcasting is below.
